| Castor Et Pollux |
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ROLES PLOT (1737 VERSION) Prologue: The Allegorical prologue is unrelated to the main story. It celebrates the Treaty Of Vienna of 1736 which put an end to the War Of The Polish Succession , in which France had been involved. In the prologue, Venus , goddess of love, subdues Mars , god of war, with the help of Minerva . Act One: Background note: s. Pollux and his band of Sparta n warriors interrupt the mourning bringing the dead body of Lynceus who has been killed in revenge. Pollux confesses his love for Telaira. She avoids giving a reply, instead asking him to go and plead with his father Jupiter , king of the gods, to restore Castor to life. Act Two: Pollux expresses his conflicting emotions in the aria ''Nature, amour, qui partagez mon coeur''. If he does what Telaira says and manages to persuade Jupiter to restore his brother to life, he knows he will lose the chance to marry her. But he finally yields to her pleas. Jupiter descends from above and Pollux begs him to bring Castor back to life. Jupiter replies he is powerless to alter the laws of fate. The only way to save Castor is for Pollux to take his place among the dead. Pollux, despairing that he will never win Telaira, decides to go to the Underworld. Jupiter tries dissuade him with a ballet of the Celestial Pleasures led by Hebe , goddess of youth, but Pollux is resolute. Act Three: The stage shows the entrance to the Underworld, guarded by monsters and demons. Phoebe gathers the Spartans to prevent Pollux from entering the gate of the Underworld. Pollux refuses to be dissuaded, even though Phoebe declares her love for him. When Telaira arrives and she sees Pollux's passion for her, Phoebe realises her love will be unrequited. She urges the demons of the Underworld to stop him entering (''Sortez, sortez d'esclavage/Combattez, Démons furieux''). Pollux fights the demons with the help of the god Mercury and descends into Hades . Act Four The scene shows the Elysian Fields in the Underworld. Castor sings the aria ''Séjours de l'éternelle paix'': the beautiful surroundings cannot comfort him for the loss of Telaira, neither can a Chorus of Happy Spirits. He is amazed to see his brother Pollux, who tells him of his sacrifice. Castor says he will only take the opportunity to revisit the land of the living for one day so he can see Telaira for the last time. Act Five Castor returns to Sparta. When Phoebe sees him, she thinks Pollux is dead for good and commits suicide so she can join him in the Underworld. But Castor tells Telaira he only plans to remain alive with her for a single day. Telaira bitterly accuses him of never having loved her. Jupiter descends in a storm as a Deus Ex Machina to resolve the dilemma. He declares that Castor and Pollux can both share immortality. The opera ends with the ''fête de l'univers'' ("Festival of the Universe") in which the stars, planets and sun celebrate the god's decision and the twin brothers are received into the Zodiac as the constellation of Gemini . THE 1754 REVISIONS The prologue was completely cut; it was no longer politically relevant and the fashion for operas having prologues had died out. The opera no longer begins with Castor's funeral; a wholly new Act One was created explaining the background to the story: Telaira is love with Castor but she is betrothed to Pollux, who is prepared to give her up to his brother when he finds out. Unfortunately the wedding celebrations are violently interrupted by Lynceus and a battle breaks out in which Castor is killed. Acts Three and Four were merged and the work as a whole shortened by cutting a great deal of Recitative .''Viking'' p.835 PERFORMANCE HISTORY AND RECEPTION ''Castor et Pollux'' appeared in 1737 while the controversy ignited by Rameau's first opera '' Hippolyte Et Aricie '' was still raging. Conservative critics held the works of the "father of French opera", Jean-Baptiste Lully , to be unsurpassable. They saw Rameau's radical musical innovations as an attack on all they held dear and a war of words broke out between these ''Lullistes'' and the supporters of the new composer, the so-called ''Rameauneurs''. This controversy ensured that the premiere of ''Castor'' would be a noteworthy event. As it turned out, the opera was a success.Bouissou pp.16-17 It received twenty performances in late 1737 but did not reappear until the substantially revised version took to the stage in 1754. This time there were thirty performances and ten in 1755. Graham Sadler writes that "It was {Link without Title} ''Castor et Pollux'' that was regarded as Rameau's crowning achievement, at least from the time of its first revival (1754) onwards."''New Grove French Baroque Masters'' p.259 Revivals followed in 1764, 1765, 1772, 1773, 1778, 1779 and 1780. The taste for Rameau's operas did not long outlive the . RECORDINGS
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